Collar-button dispenser.



'1. 1. HOFFMANN. COLLAR BUTTON DISPENSER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15- 19W.

Patented Jam. 7, 1919.

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Patented Jan. 7,1919.

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COLLAR BUTION DISPENSER.

. APPLICATION mm APR. 15. I918. 1,290,197.

r n u I a u u I I I 0 I m u wi/bna ooao e We).

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tinirnp er if JACOB J. HOFEMANN, 0F BEACHWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

COLLAR-BUTTON. DISPENSER.

Specification of Iietterslatent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

Application filed April 15, 1918. Serial No. 228.746.

which the following is a specification;

Thisinvention relates to new and useful improvements in vending machines and more particularly to a display trayor cablnet for collar buttons and the primary object of the invention is; to provide a device of this character Which will provide a means for displaying various styles of-collar buttons. supporting-the same" insuch a manner that they will not be scratched or mutilated, and enabling the same to be dispensed one at a time.

A further object of the invention resides in providing a device which isconstructed to be operable onlv by authorized persons, and a further object'resides in providing a reg stering mechanism in connection therewith.

Still another object resides in providing a device which is simple and durable in co struction. inexpensive to manufacture and one which willbe very eflicient and useful in operation.

With these and other objects in view,' the invention consis in the novelfeatures of construction, combination and-arrangemcnts of parts as will be hereinafter'more fullv described and claimed.

lln the accompanvincr drawings forming a art of this application Figure .1 is a frontlelevation of a device constructed'in accordance with my invention;

2 is a transverse section as seen on line 22 of Fig. 1. looking in the direction ofthe arrows and showing. the device in its normal andinoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the parts in operative position dispensing a buttonfr m the device;

Fig. 4 is a vertical'sec'tion as seen on line 44'of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of he'arrows Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the par s inoperative position as though taken on Fig. 3'; V

Fig. 6 is a h rizontal section as seen on line 6.-tiofFig."2;" o gg "Fig; 7 "is a fragmentary rear elevation ofthedevice showing the registering mechanism and the means for observing the same;and,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the stop member removed Indescribing the invention I hatl referto'the drawings in which siinilar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the severalviewsand in which 1 indicates a'basemember orsupport upon which is supported a housing or casmg 2 the front wall of which is inclined rearwardly from its lower to itsupper edge.

Mountedpn this front wall in: spaced relation to one another are a plurality" of slide ways 3 which are arranged in spaced relation to one another and which are designed for the purpose of displaying a number of styles of collar buttons and also designed to dispense the same therefrom readily, said dispensinq'means beina hereinafter and. more particularly described.

These: slide-wavs are channel shapcd' in cross-section and in order "to prevent other than certain stvles of buttons being displaved'in this device. the side walls. of the slide-wave are. provided with ribs or the like 4" which aredesirrned to fit in correspending grooves for ed in the peripheral edges of'thebacks ofthebuttons. The'huttons are fed tothes lidawavs 3 from the upper ends of the'latter and theproiecting portions ofthe slid r-wave prevent the buttons being removed and. allow the stems and hea s thereof to proi ct bevond the same. The lowere ds of the sl de-ways have the'slots thereof enlarged as sh wn at 5 to permit the buttons to be re dily removedther from. A stop member 6 is provided adjacent the lower end of each slide-way above the enlarged slots 5 to support the rows of buttons and this sto mere ber will be more particularlv,described in so that the buttons may readily ride thereover when said stop is retracted. I have provided an improved means for retracting this rod or bar 7 whereby to permit the lowermost button of the row in the slideway to be dispensed and simultaneously retain the other buttons in place. To this end a rack9 is formed on the lower face of the bar 7 intermediate of its ends, the teeth of which mesh with an elongated pinion 10, said pinion being rotatably supported in bearing plates 11 on the base of the housing 2. Slidably mounted through the top wall of the housing and guided through an opening in the guide wall 8 is a push rod 12 which also has a rack 13 at its lower end meshing with a portion of .thepinion 10.

' Removably secured to the push rod 12 is an angular projection 14 to which is secured the lower end of a coil spring 15the opposite end of said c011 spring being engaged with the topwall of the housing to norr na1ly retain said push rod in a substantially raised position. The upper end of the rod has a knob or the like 16 provided thereon and when said knob is forced outwardly to correspondingly force the push rod downwardly the rod or bar 7 will be retracted inwardly to withdraw the stop member (3 which supports the row of buttons in the slide-way.

I have provided means also in connection with this push rod to permit only the lowermost button of the row in the slide-way to be dispensed when the stop -member-6 is retracted. To this end a stud or the like 17 isprovided on the inner face of the front wall of the housing a short distance above the rod 7. Fulcrumed on this stud-is bell crank lever 18 one end of which projects substantially horizontally and the other downwardly in substantially vertical position. Slidably mounted on the inner face of the front wall of the housing 2 is an angular plate 19 one angular end of which is disposed in the'moving path of one arm of said'bell crank lever. The plate is so mounted on the wall as to be limited in its sliding movement thereon and the one end thereof is bent through a slot or the like in the front wall of the housing and designed to provide a stop 20. Th s stop has the free end thereof beveled and is so positioned above the stop 6 as to cross the path of the slide-way in a plane just below the plane of the neck of the next to the-lowermost collar button, when said angular plate 19 is moved in one direction. This angular plate s normally held in such a position, of course, as to dispose the stop member to its inoperative position and in order to accom plish this result a coil spring 21 is provided on the inner face of th front wall of the housing, the one end of said 0011 spring being engaged with the first mentioned angular end of the plate 19 while the inner end thereof is engaged with a stud on the inner face of said wall. hen in its normal position, this angular plate disposes of the bell crank lever to a position so that, the substantially horizontally projecting arm thereof is in the path of the angular projection 14 on the push rod 12. Th s when said push rod is forced downwardly this angular projection let thereon will contact with one end of the bell crank lever to swing the latter on its fulcrun'i point. Sued actuation of the bell crank lever will :lide the plate 19 on the front wall of the housing and dispose the stop 20 across the path of the 'slidenvay. It will be appreciated. therefore, that when the push rod is forced downwardly to withdraw the stop member and permit a button to be dispensed from the slide-way the other stop member 20 will be simultaneously drawn across the path of the slide-way to prevent the dispensing of any other buttons. Upon the release of pressure upon the push red the latter will be returned to its initial position as will also the stop member 20 and the row of buttons will then be dropped down so that the button which was formerly next to the lowermost will rest upon the stop member 6 and be in position to be dispensed upon the next operation of the push rod.

This particular apparatus is well adapted for use in various haberdasherics and in department stores handling such articles and in order to prevent any unauthorized person from operating this device. a locking mechanism is provided therefor. in carrying out this idea an angular lug 22 is provided on the push red, the same facing rearwardly and secured to said push rod by the same means which secures th e angular projection 14 thereto. An additional guide strip 23 is provided on the rear wall.

.ofthe housing and slidably mounted through the rear wall thereof and inasmuch as this wall faces rearwardly it will be appreciated that the dev ce being seated on a coun-.

ter or the like will only be operated by those authorized.

I have, however, also provided, in con nect on with my device, a registering mechanism to indicate the number of times the push rod has been actuated to dispense but-.

tons from the device. In carrying out this lljO me ia idea, I provide a disk member :26 with a plurahty of members thereon, said dlsk being carried by a. shaft 27 which 1s rotatably mounted in bearingplates 28. These plates are carried on the inner face oi the rear wall of the housing and an opening :29 in said rear wall permits the numbers on the disk to be readily observed. A ratchet 30 is ale mounted on this shaft 27 and a spring held pawl 31 is carried on the push rod for engagement with the teeth of said ratchet. Thus each time the push rod is forced downwardly the pawl being engaged with a tooth or the ratchet, will turn the latter, together with the disk and shaft. in order to retain the disk and 'atchet in the position to which the same has been adjusted by the downward pressure of the push rod a spring member 3'2 is provided on the rear wall of the housin qfsaid spring member being bent intel-mediate of its ends and having its free end engaged with said ratchet. Upon the return of the push rod to its initial position, therefore, the ratchet will remain in the position to which the same has been turned by the downward pressure of the push rod. A linger operated ratchet 33 is also provided on the shatt 27, a portion of which projects through a slot 34 in the rear wall of the housin Through this medium, the ratchet may be turned by hand at any time desired. It willbe understood from this construction that each time the push rod is forced downwardly to dispense a button from th housinsr, the registering mechanism will indicate the same and all unauthorized dispensing of buttons from the device will, therefore. be readily detected.

From the foregoing description of the construction ot' the device and the manner 0t applying the same to use. the operation thereof will be readily understood and it will be seen that l have provided simple, inexpenstve and eiiicie t means for carrying out he hiects of my in ention.

Wh le I have particularlv descr bed the elements b st adapted to perform the funct o s set forth. it is obvious that various changes in form, proport on and in the m no details of construction may be reso t d to. w thin the scope oi the a ended claims. thout departing from the spirit or sac ificing any of the principles ot' the in ntion.

Ha vi n thus described my invention. what I cla m is:

l. in a dispensing apparatus o the class descr bed. a hou ing havinn; a slot in the fro t wa l t e oi a member movable hori zontallv there lirough. a. pu h od o erating th ough said housing for substantially vertical n'iovemept. m ans in connect on w th sa rod o ormal y ret n the same in inac e osit on. and a pinion in connection with the lower end of said rod and said member to actuate the latter as said rod is operated.

2. A dispensing mechanism of the class described comprising a housing having an opening in one wall thereof, a bar operable through said opening and designed to provide a stop member on the device, said bar being provided with a. rack On one face, a pinion rotatable in the housing and engagi p; said rack. a push rod operable substantially vertically through said housing and also having a rack engaging said pinion, means to normally retain sa d rod in its inactive position to correspondinsrlv dispose said bar to its extended and operative position. and an additional stop member in connection with said push rod adapted to be disposed to its operative position when the first ment oned stop member is inoperativelv posit oned.

3. In a dispensing mechanism of the class described, a housing. a push rod mounted to operate for substantially vertical movement throu h the housing, means for normally retaining said push rod in one position. a releasing mechanism in connection with said push rod to operate upon the operation of the latter, a projection carried on said push rod. and a plunger operable th ough one wall of sa d housing and adapted for engagement with said projection to lock said push rod against movement in the housing.

4:. Adispensing mechani m ot the class described comprising a housing. a push rod operable through the housing for substantially vertical movement. spring means to normally retain the said rod in its raised position, a release mechanism in connection with the lower end of said rod actuated upon t e lowering of the latter. a stop member slidablv moun ed on the housing and perable horizontallv thereof. means to normally retain said stop member in its inoperati e posit on. and means in connection w th said stop member and said push rod to dispose the former to its operative position when the push rod is lowered.

5. In a dispensing mechanism of the class described. a housin a push rod o erable for substantially vertical mo ement therein, means to normally retain said push rod in its inoperative position. a release mechanism in connection with said rod and actuated upon the actuation thereof. a s op member bell crank lever to actuate the latter upon the lowering of the push rod whereby to dispose said stop member to its operative position When the release nieehanisn'i is in- 5 peratively positioned.

'10 able handle disposed remote from the rear side 0]": the easing,-and a spring applied manually released locking bolt normally preventing actuation of said handle and having one end extended through the rear side of the casing to be grasped by the o'p- 15 erator, whereby said bolt may be released.

JACOB J. HOFFMANN.

Witnesses to the signature of Jacob J. Hoffmann.

SAMUEL B. PIERCE, CHESTER E. MoKnLvEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

